In Italian the word lavagna, meaning blackboard, comes from here: from the black slate quarried in the valleys behind the town, split into thin sheets and good to write on. It is also why the Torre del Borgo, a military structure of the 16th century in the old centre, now houses the Galleria artistica dell'ardesia: the stone that gave its name to an everyday object is displayed inside the tower that once watched over the town.
What to see
The tower is the oldest thing on the visit. According to some sources the Fieschi raised it in the 16th century as a lookout and a defence: the family that had built a lordship over the whole eastern Ligurian coast from Lavagna, and that had given the Church two popes, Innocent IV and Adrian V. Once its military role was over, the building stayed in the service of the town for centuries and ended up as a dwelling, with a private chapel fitted inside.
The rooms now hold the Alloiso Collection and the slate gallery: alongside objects worked in the local stone, the material that in Liguria roofed houses, paved floors and made table tops, there are ceramics and archaeological finds gathered from across the Tigullio. Below the tower lies a Genoese-style garden where exhibitions and concerts are put on: it is the part that keeps the place in use rather than under glass.
Visiting
You are inside the medieval citadel, a short walk from the basilica of Santo Stefano and from the Porta di Ponente, the only surviving old gate, near the sanctuary of Nostra Signora del Carmine. The tower's opening times follow the exhibition calendar more than a fixed schedule, so it is worth checking with the town hall before turning up. The same round takes in the Ponte della Maddalena, rebuilt in stone with thirteen arches in 1210 at the wish of Ugo Fieschi, which joins Lavagna to Chiavari.
Our editors' tip
Our advice is to look at the slate twice. First in the gallery cases, worked and polished; then outside, on the doorsteps, the jambs and the roofs of the old centre, where the same stone still does the job it was quarried for. And if you can choose your date, aim for mid-August, when the Torta dei Fieschi, staged since 1949, puts the six medieval quarters back in procession and hands out an enormous cake to whoever finds the matching half of their ticket.